Thursday, April 20, 2017

Last week, an 18-year-old South African woman, Ontlametse
Phalatse, died in a Pretoria hospital.Shortly before, she complained to the driver of the taxi she was in that
she was having difficulty breathing, and collapsed on the floor.She was rushed to a local clinic, then to a
Pretoria hospital, where doctors could not save her.

Obviously, it is tragic that a young woman should die so
young.

What is uplifting is that Ontlametse was the first black
person to be diagnosed with a rare disease called progeria, which causes a person to age rapidly.On initial diagnosis, Ontlametse was told
that she may see her fourteenth birthday, but wouldn’t live much beyond
that.So, she outlived that prediction
by four years.

It is how she lived her life that had such a huge impact on
people.Not only did she accept that her
life was going to be short, but she vowed to live it to the fullest.She used her celebrity status to get
politicians to pay attention to the facilities of the school she attended; she
provided sanitary pads to all the girls in the school, many of whom couldnot afford them; she became a motivational
speaker, trying to encourage others who were suffering to take a positive view
of the world; and she created a bucket list of things to do and people to meet.

It almost seems that her mind and wisdom also outran her
age.She was wise beyond her years.

One item on her bucket list was to meet the President of
South Africa, Jacob Zuma.She used the
occasion to make him promise the he would ensure that his foundation would
build her mother a house.She also
received an invitation to be a Very Important Person at his 75th
birthday party.She died just before
that happened.

With President Zuma

Ontlametse in the dress she was going to wear to Zuma's birthday. With her mother.

One can only be moved at the courage of this young woman who was physically so different from all her school mates. One can only imagine how difficult that was for her. She once said “Beauty is not the appearance of someone but it is their personality and how they are on the inside as well as their heart.”

As one would expect, her funeral was a celebration of a
remarkable life, with people from all walks of life paying her tribute.

For me, a Whatsapp message she sent to the principal of her
high school sums up who she was:“Miss me a
little and not too long‚ miss me but let me go.”

What a woman! What an inspiration.

____________________________________________

Murder
Is Everywhere

Author Recognitions and
Events

ANNAMARIA
ALFIERI

April 28-26

Malice Domestic

Hyatt Regency

Bethesda, Maryland

Panel: The British
Empire

(FYI- Sujata and I will
be on the same panel!!!)

May 31

Janet Rudolph Literary
Salon:

"The History of Hot
Places: Clashes between Colonialism and Local Cultures”

Joint appearance with
Michael Cooper

CARA
BLACK

Murder
in Saint Germain, Aimée Leduc’s next investigation, comes out June 6, 2017.

CARO
RAMSEY

Paper back of Rat
Run published 28th March.

JEFF
SIGER

"The
Olive Growers,” appears in BOUND BY MYSTERY, an anthology edited by Diane
DiBiasi celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Poisoned Pen Press, out in March.

MICHAEL
STANLEY

Dying to
Live (Kubu #6) to be released in May
in UK & South Africa and in October in USA

4 comments:

A very moving story and one I didn't know about. It's amazing how some people who have very little and suffer big problems can be so generous and selfless, while others who have much seem only greedy for more.

Unlike my dear Michael and EvKa, I prefer to concentrate on the positive aspect of the story--which I find incredibly inspiring. Instead of the greedy bad actors, I prefer to think about the many, many people who think of themselves a powerless. If someone like Ontlametse can have the impact she did, can have achieved what she achieved, I hope others less impaired, with much more time to put in will see (to use an "African" phrase), the power of one. If they can learn to feel their own potential and harness it, they can become so much more than they think. Thank you Stan. I'm sharing this to see if this beautiful story can find a few more people to inspire to optimism and action.